Federal grant to help repair dock near Soo Locks

The Carbide Dock Port in Sault Ste. Marie is a staging area for vessels requiring assistance. The money would pay for rehabilitating the dock and reconstructing truck routes to it.

The grant was announced this week by Michigan Democratic Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently announced it will spend $32.4 million for a channel deepening project — an important step toward constructing a new Great Lakes shipping lock. The funds will be used to finish design and begin construction on the upstream approach channel of the complex.

The Corps this year endorsed building a second lock. The $1 billion project could be finished in seven years if federal funding continues.